Your Week in Virtual Book Events, June 1st to June 5th
Including the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards and the Roxbury Poetry Festival
The 2021 Hay Festival
Broadcasting some 200 or so events online for free, this year’s Hay Festival is bringing together writers, illustrators, professors, and poets to talk about literature across all genres and corners of the world. Writers such as Rachel Cusk, Sheila Heti, Brit Bennett, and Lydia Choi will be in conversation with other esteemed writers of our moment. The Hay Festival runs until June 6th. Free, with registration.
Curtis Sittenfeld in Conversation with Betsy Hodges
Tuesday, June 1, 6:30 pm EDT
Join Rain Taxi for the book launch of the paperback edition of Rodham, the New York Times bestseller by Curtis Sittenfeld that the Washington Post called “fiction as therapy.” Sittenfeld will be in conversation with former Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges to discuss the vital places where American politics and literary fiction meet. Free, with registration.
Kiese Laymon and Ebony Lumumb in Conversation
Tuesday, June 1, 6:30 pm EDT
Kiese Laymon and Ebony Lumumba discuss the new edition of Kiese’s book, Long Division, via Facebook Live. Join for free here.
2021 Lambda Literary Awards
Tuesday, June 1, 7:00 pm EDT
Created over 30 years ago to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world, the Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature. This year’s award ceremony will be hosted by Rakesh Satyal and feature R.O. Kwon, Carmen Maria Machado, and Torrey Peters. Free, with registration.
Jamie Ducharme with Lisa Weidenfeld: Big Vape
Tuesday, June 1, 7:00 pm EDT
Jamie Ducharme discusses Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul, with Lisa Weidenfeld. Free, with registration.
Michael Robbins – “Walkman” – Elif Batuman
Tuesday, June 1, 7:00 pm EDT
Michael Robbins will discuss Walkman—new poems that confront self-pity and nostalgia in witty-miserable defiance of our political and ecological moment.—with Elif Batuman. Free, with registration.
Charles Coté & Katherine Hastings: Reading & Conversation
Tuesday, June 1, 7:30 pm EDT
Charles Coté—author of the recently released collection of elegies about his son’s illness and death, I Play His Red Guitar—will be in conversation with Katherine Hastings, the author of three collections from Spuyten Duyvil Press, which includes Shakespeare & Stein Walk Into a Bar. Free, with registration.
Zakiya Dalila Harris & Brit Bennett in Conversation
Tuesday, June 1, 7:30 pm EDT
Greenlight is thrilled to host Zakiya Dalila Harris for the launch of her highly anticipated debut novel, The Other Black Girl, about Nella Rogers, a 26-year-old editorial assistant who is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books, a publishing house in NYC. Brit Bennett will join Harris in conversation. Free, with registration.
Steven Rowley in Conversation with Christina Clancy
Tuesday, June 1, 8:00 pm EDT
Boswell presents an evening with Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor, whose latest novel is The Guncle, about a once-famous gay sitcom star whose unexpected family tragedy leaves him with his niece and nephew for the summer. Free, via Zoom.
Mary Beth Meehan and Fred Turner: “Seeing Silicon Valley: Life Inside a Fraying America” with Joseph Calamia
Wednesday, June 2, 5:00 pm EDT
Mary Beth Meehan and Fred Turner will discuss Seeing Silicon Valley: Life Inside a Fraying America, which offers “portraits of struggle—families displaced by an impossible real estate market, workers striving for a living wage, and communities harmed by environmental degradation.” They will be joined in conversation by Joseph Calamia. Free, with registration.
Uncle Bobbie’s Presents: Zakiya Dalila Harris and Raven Leilani
Wednesday, June 2, 6:00 pm EDT
Uncle Bobbie’s is excited to welcome Zakiya Dalila Harris for an exciting discussion on her debut novel, The Other Black Girl. She will be joined in conversation by Raven Leilani, author of the critically acclaimed novel Luster, and a live audience Q&A will follow. Free, via Crowdcast.
Moya Bailey and Cathy J. Cohen: “Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance”
Wednesday, June 2, 7:00 pm EDT
Moya Bailey will discuss Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance. She will be joined in conversation by Cathy J. Cohen. Free, with registration.
CEERES of Voices: Faith Hillis – “Utopia’s Discontents: Russian Emigres and the Quest for Freedom, 1830s-1930s” – Tara Zahara
Wednesday, June 2, 7:00 pm EDT
Faith Hillis will discuss Utopia’s Discontents: Russian Emigres and the Quest for Freedom, 1830s-1930s. She will be joined in conversation by Tara Zahra. Free, with registration.
Jordan Ellenberg in Conversation with John Urschel
Wednesday, June 2, 8:00 pm EDT
From Jordan Ellenberg, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the New York Times-bestselling author of How Not to Be Wrong, comes a far-ranging exploration of the power of geometry. For this event, Ellenberg will be in conversation with John Urschel, author of Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football. Free, via Zoom.
Nadifa Mohamed – The Fortune Men
Thursday, June 3, 2:00 pm EDT
Join Nadifa Mohamed to discuss her devastating new novel, The Fortune Men. Free, with registration.
Rosebud Ben-Oni: If This is the Age We End Discovery
Thursday, June 3, 7:30 pm EDT
Rosebud Ben-Oni, author of If This Is the Age We End Discovery, will be in conversation with poet Danielle Pafunda, author of Spite. Free, with registration.
Nicholas A. Basbanes – “Cross of Snow: A Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow”
Thursday, June 3, 7:30 pm EDT
Nicholas A. Basbanes will discuss Cross of Snow: A Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, about the life, the times, the work–the soul–of the man who shaped the literature of a new nation with his countless poems, sonnets, stories, essays, translations, and whose renown was so wide-reaching that his deep friendships included Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Julia Ward Howe, and Oscar Wilde. Free, with registration.
Politics & Prose Presents Zakiya Dalila Harris and Riley Sager
Thursday, June 3, 8:00 pm EDT
Zakiya Dalila Harris will discuss her highly anticipated debut novel, The Other Black Girl. She will be joined in conversation by Riley Sager. This event is free and open to the public, though ticket/book bundles are optional and available for $27 (+ tax & fee) and include a copy of The Other Black Girl. Register here.
Heidi Seaborn and Matthew Rohrer in Conversation
Thursday, June 3, 10:00 pm EDT
Poet Heidi Seaborn reads from her first full length collection, An Insomniac’s Slumber Party with Marilyn Monroe, winner of the 2020 PANK Books Poetry Prize. Reading with her is Matthew Rohrer, author most recently of Sky Contains the Plans. Free, with registration.
Zibby Owens and Steven Rowley in Conversation
Friday, June 4, 1:00 pm EDT
Zibby will be participating in an Instagram Live “Happy Hour” with Steven Rowley to talk about his new novel, The Guncle, and how to make a special cocktail! Join on Instagram LIVE.
Reuben Jonathan Miller and Craig B. Futterman in Conversation
Friday, June 4, 5:00 pm EDT
Reuben Jonathan Miller will discuss Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration. He will be joined in conversation by Craig B. Futterman. Free, with registration.
Hugo Literary Series: Tommy Orange, Khadijah Queen, and Kristen Millares Young
Friday, June 4, 9:00 pm EDT
Hugo House, the Red Horse of the Apocalypse, and four terrifyingly talented artists―Tommy Orange, Khadijah Queen, Kristen Millares Young, and Amanda Winterhalter―present a night of actual and/or thematic wars: personal conflicts, differences in faith, or differences in general. Wars of ideas. Agreements and disagreements. And the flip side of war, of course: Peace. Tickets cost $15 general admission, $12 for members. There is also a $5 option for students or anyone who is financially disadvantaged. Register here.
Roxbury Poetry Festival 2021
Saturday, June 5, 10 am to 9:00 pm EDT
The Roxbury Poetry Festival is a biennial event centering poetry in Roxbury, MA. The festival features several award-winning writers, panelists, and curators, and centers a keynote address from 2020 Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Jericho Brown. The day-long event culminates with a Publisher’s Poetry Slam sponsored by Button Poetry that yields a book contract for a local writer and a “Beast The Beat” concert battle highlighting local hip hop artist. The festival is free and open to the public. Register here.
Molly Knox Ostertag with Mariko Tamaki: The Girl from the Sea
Saturday, June 5, 1:00 pm EDT
Celebrate the release of The Witch Boy creator Molly Knox Ostertag’s newest graphic novel The Girl from the Sea! Molly is joined by graphic novel writer Mariko Tamaki, author of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me. Free, with registration.
